Party and Nightlife Guide to Chiang Mai Thailand

It’s been years since I’ve been living in Thailand and I never made it up to Chiang Mai. This obviously isn’t too upsetting with places like Bangkok and Samui to keep me occupied. However, the time has come where I had to find out exactly what Chiang Mai is all about.

Everywhere I went in Thailand, there are three common things I hear about Chiang Mai:

1- It’s really cheap to live there

2- The most beautiful Thai women come from Chiang Mai

3- Much more Thai culture than other places in Thailand

Fast forward one month = I’m on a plane to Bangkok not overly impressed with Chiang Mai.

As you probably know from this website, Traditional Thai culture doesn’t interest me much. I love to party, find women, and adventure. Chiang Mai is OKAY for this, but not great.

Within the month, I went out at least 20 nights going to nearly every venue in the city. I don’t speak Thai and had no friends in Chiang Mai that I previously have met. I wanted to experience C.M. as a standard traveler.

So here we are, Our Nightlife Guide to Chiang Mai

After checking out all the nightclubs in Chiang Mai, the nightclub guide for all foreigners is pretty easy, it consists of three places that you’ll regularly visit:

10:00pm – 2:00am = Zoe in Yellow Bar

This place is loaded with mostly foreigners and some Thais. It consists of two bars right across the street from each other. Both are a combination of a small bar and nightclub. One is indoors and the other is simply covered. Here you have your choice of MANY foreign women and some very pleasant looking Thai girls to choose from. But you will have competition, there are plenty of good looking foreign guys who speak fluent Thai here.

Free cover charge.

2:00am – 5:00am = Spicy Club

Once Zoe closes, a good portion of the group moves to Spicy Club. This is also a freelancer hangout, so if you are tired of playing the game, simply find a Thai girl and go home 30 – 60 dollars poorer.

There will be a bunch of average looking girls here and only 1 really cute girl a night. When you see that girl, you have to go straight to her or another guy will.

Warning, the blonde hair one with an amazing body who is there every night is a ladyboy.

Free cover charge.

5:00am – 7:00am = Lucky Bar

If you’re not willing to throw in your towel and admit this just isn’t your night, then you’ll probably end up here. You can find some cute girls here, but not many. And beware of the ladyboys!

Free cover charge.

Other Chiang Mai Nightlife Options:

Go Go Bars: If you are coming from any other place in Thailand, you will not be impressed with the Go Go bars in Chiang Mai. There is only one of decent quality, Foxy Lady Go Go Bar

Massages: One of the major benefits in C.M. The messages here are really cheap. Where most of the places in Thailand, an hour long oil massage will cost between 300 to 500 baht. Chiang Mai will cost you about 200 baht (6usd) and another 300 baht (10usd) for the happy ending.

Soapy Massages: One of the greatest things about Thailand…if you pick the right girl. Chiang Mai has 4 soapy massage parlours with only Sayuri Massage Parlor and Ping Payom Massage Parlor worth mentioning. Prices are about 2,000 baht for the full package. (If you take a taxi directly to the place, they will charge you an additional 500 baht for the driver’s commission.)

Lady Bars Although there are many lady bars in Chiang Mai, there is only one areas that caters to foreigners, Loh Kroh road. All the other bars will be playing terrible Thai music.

Nightclubs I will eventually be compiling a list of the Nightclubs to Chiang Mai, but what you need to know is that most of them play Thai music. And Thai music is terrible.

Although the best nightclub in Chiang Mai is “Warm Up.”

A Few Thoughts About Chiang Mai:

– If you’re going to stay in C.M. for awhile. Learn to speak Thai. I’ve been in Thailand for over 3 years and never had a need to learn Thai. However here it’s needed.

– I ran into more American’s here than I have in any other place in Thailand. A good and bad thing.

– There are no late night massages parlors that are open. When I don’t find a girl that I like by 5am, I tend to get a massage. In Chiang Mai you do not have that option.

– I only saw one drop dead gorgeous girl in one month.

– It’s bullshit when people say C.M. has the most beautiful Thai women. The best looking women go to Bangkok to become actors and models. The beautiful women who can’t make it in Bangkok or comes from poor farming families, go work in Pattaya.

– There are cute women in Chiang Mai, but very few are stunning. You need to go to Bangkok or Pattaya for that.

– Visiting Thai Temples is nice, but boring after a couple days.

– Lots of traffic.

– I stayed in Vangbua Mansion (http://www.viangbuamansion-chiangmai.com/). An okay serviced apartment for only 400usd a month.

– C.M. has a very relaxed feel compared to other parts of Thailand.

– Almost all the nightclubs play Thai music…which sucks.

One other thing worth noting, I asked every foreigner that lives in Chiang Mai, “What makes Chiang Mai so great to live in?” Most of the responses I received were, “It’s amazing here.” But when I dug a little deeper, specifics could not be found on what makes this place any better than other parts of Thailand.

Frankly, I think people fall in love with Chiang Mai for the same two reasons everyone falls in love with Thailand, it’s cheap and there are plenty of cute Asian women who love foreigners.

Final Verdict = Chiang Mai is nice but overrated. A place to visit, but not a place to live…unless you are on a VERY tight budget.

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10 comments

Hi, I just joined your VIP program. I am traveling to Thailand for the first time at the beginning of November. I will be staying for 16 weeks.I plan on flying to Bangkok and staying for a couple days and then moving on to Chaing Mai. Mainly because i have a friend who has lived in CM for 8 years who is married to a Thai woman and he speaks fluent Thai and can help me get a nice inexpensive place and take me around and help me get adjusted to Thai culture and show me how to get the biggest bang for my buck/Baht without getting gouged or scammed. My main question, of course, has to do with hooking up with Thai women. I just got divorced after 15 years and I am out of the loop for dating and i Thought i would just hookup with bar girls or freelancers until i found one i liked and have her for a travel companion/girlfriend for a week or two and then move on to the next one. I am on a budget of about $1,000/month. I don’t smoke or drink or like to go to clubs that much. Mainly this trip is for R&R. Heavy on the relaxation and sex. I’ve had too much excitement from living in San Francisco for the last 15 years. I really don’t want to start off trying to date ‘nice’ girls from my place of ‘starting over’ that I am in. And I wouldn’t be able to speak enough thai to make it happen. And I am kind of shy to begin with and never had much success with women before getting married. I just want an easy time with a Thai woman and not cost too much or get into trouble (jealous boyfriends, ladyboys, ripped off, etc…).From what i have found out so far, is I will probably have about $500 left each month after food and rent and basic expenses. The rest would be for adult fun with women. The woman doesn’t have to be the hottest woman around, just hot enough and thin and sexy and great in bed. I plan on learning Thai while I am there from my friend and Language CDs. Your guide seems to cover places like Bangkok, Pattaya, Samui, etc.. But not so much CM. My friend has been married for a long time and hasn’t had a chance to figure out the sex scene, to tell me whats up. Also he is getting divorced from his wife so she wouldn’t be able to fix me up with her friends. Enough of the context. Here are my questions: 1) Would i be able to have find a woman who would be my travel companion/girlfriend in Chaing Mai for about $500/month? 2) Would I be better off going on to other places after being in CM, like Patttaya or Ko Phangahn or other islands? 3) should i find a way to bring more money with me, like $1,500/month? 4) Is there enough of a sex scene in Chaing Mai to make it worth staying there for the majority of my trip? I know you have higher standards from being there for several years and going to all the hottest places in Thailand and get it on with perfect 10’s. I am ok with 8’s and an occasional 10. I’m not trying to sound like someone who has low standards, just trying to figure things out and not blowing my wad before it is time to go back home.

First of all, thanks for joining the VIP program and with our help, we’ll make sure you have a great fucking time in Thailand.

What I’ll do is briefly answer your questions here. But since you are a VIP member, you can email us your questions to the email address located in your welcome email.

Question 1: Is $500 Enough Short answer, yes! And a double yes for you since you don’t drink. But that doesn’t mean you can go baller style. For example, the cheaper freelancers / bar girls in Chiang Mai will range from 500 – 1000 baht (15 – 30usd) a night. But a GoGo dancer, will range from 2,500 – 4,000 baht (75 – 120usd) a night.

So if you are planning on going “whoring” every night of the week, that is probably not the right route for you.

If I were you, I wouldn’t think of your extra $500 as “whoring” money. I’d think of it as “dating money”. Use it to take a girl out for a cheap Thai meal for 100 baht (3usd). That kind of thing.

If you are shy, start at the Night Bazaar or the shopping malls to meet some girls. Hang out at an Irish pub and meet like-minded guys who can point you in the right direction on where to find your type of girl.

Question 2: Where is the Best Bang for a Buck? For living in Thailand, Chiang Mai is where you can find the best value. Personally for me, value isn’t my number one concern, lifestyle is. For me, what’s the point of moving to Asia if you aren’t going to be near the beach? Paradise and the beach goes hand in hand.

But, if you only have 1k to work with, Chiang Mai is your best bet. If you have 1.5k to work with, then head to Samui or Phangan for a few months to see if you like it.

Question 3: Should i find a way to bring more money with me, like $1,500/month? I’m not quite sure if you mean “bring” or “make” more money. Either way, you are better off if you bring more money than less. Your first month in Thailand will be much more expensive than the following months as you learn the “way of the land” if you are living here. If you are traveling for only one month, then go the backpacker route and you can easily travel Thailand for one month using a budget of 1,000usd.

Question 4: ) Is there enough of a sex scene in Chaing Mai? Personally, Chiang Mai bores the fuck out of me and I wouldn’t live there if I was paid. But for the tight budget expat community, Chiang Mai works.

Anyways man, I hope this helps. And if you have any other questions, shoot us an email.

I’m not going to lie, before I traveled outside of the United States for the first time, I felt exactly as you did. But after traveling and living in Europe, Asia, and South America – my eyes opened.

I’m not going to debate this topic, but I think we can agree on this one point, “Whether you are in Thailand or America, there are gold diggers and there regular women who just want to be in a good relationship.”

True, there are foreigners in Thailand that couldn’t get pussy in their country if they tried, but there are also quite of few foreigners who live in Thailand because they don’t want to be stuck in a boring ass 9 – 5 life for the next 40 years. Not to mention the idea of being married to a fat white woman who only treats her man worse and worse as time goes on.

Chiang Mai is waaay better than Bangkok. It too busy and dirty there and there are too many foreigners in the south in general. It nice and cheap here in chiang mai. Down south all the prices are jacked up. You get a better cultural experience as opposed to say Pattya, where you just getting annoyed by people trying to sell you shit all the time

Hi I found this Site about a month ago and love it! I’m moving to bangkok in a few weeks and will defenatly using a lot of the recommendation.

I don’t a 100% agree with your take on Chiang Mai but I can see where your coming from.

One thing I was surprised with is that you didn’t mention the club Mandalay. I found it to be the biggest club in Chiang Mai! It has different sections playing dance, rnb and live music. There where heaps of hot uni students. Me and my friends where the only farangs in the club and got treated like minor celebrities with all the Thais wanting photos with us and filling up our cups all night! The only thing was the not speaking Thai factor and I wasn’t willing to test out which girls had boyfriends..

Also you can hardly hate on clubs and bars in Thailand playing THAI music. Some of it isn’t even that bad, Thai skai, reggae and rock is good, it’s just the rubbish romantic and sad pop stuff that’s terrible.